arriviste

[ ar-ee-veest; French a-ree-veest ]

noun

, plural ar·ri·vistes [ar-ee-, veests, a, -, r, ee-, veest].

1. a person who has recently acquired unaccustomed status, wealth, or success, especially by dubious means and without earning concomitant esteem.

arriviste

/ ˌæriːˈviːst; arivist /

noun

1. a person who is unscrupulously ambitious

Word History and Origins

Origin of arriviste¹

From French, dating back to 1900–05; arrive, -ist

Word History and Origins

Origin of arriviste¹

French: see arrive , -ist

Example Sentences

Welcome to the second season of HBO’s opulent drama “The Gilded Age,” a series laden with emblematic showdowns between the gaudy arrivistes and the idle drawing-room class.

From New York Times

Neither are they pure expressions of self-made grandeur in the style of today’s proud arrivistes who flag their wealth on social media as a capitalist boast.

From Washington Post

Times’ Orange County bureau employed hundreds, with us as the foul-mouthed arriviste.

From Los Angeles Times

Her circle includes an aunt who is a champion wrestler, a resident Goth named Isabel and sultry Penny Century, an arriviste married to a wealthy magnate with horns on his head.

From Los Angeles Times

Yes, they must have seemed like arrivistes when they came out on top after a long period of civil war.

From Washington Post